Hello, I'm currently 20 years old and I'm wondering if taking estrogen alone is okay without anti-androgen? Of course an Endo is who i should be asking, but I'm just wondering, I believe I already look effeminate already to be frank, I'm currently dressing gender-neutral not comfortable dressing female yet, but even as a guy I do pass as a girl, my face is very effeminate, i'm slender, my fingers are much like a girl, and have a small torso, slender legs 5'6 tall, 110lbs, and I believe all i'm missing is breasts. So "exactly" what are the results of taking estrogen? what will happen in the long run with taking estrogen? Also, does taking estrogen alone make you go bald eventually?  please be simple and Thank you so much for answering ......

My endo has me on Spironolactone as an anti-androgen. It seems to let the "E" perform a little better and with a blood pressure around 140/90 the Spiro lowers it to around 128/76. Spiro is a diuretic and thus lowers BP for those who need it lowered. It kind of does two jobs in one, but you sure get tired of peeing all the time. Have to stay hydrated very well or you get leg cramps. One of Spiro's adverse side effects is Gynocomastia in men. VERY good for us MtFs. Causes breast growth.

Depends on your T levels.  I know at least 1 forum member has only been prescribed E due to having a sufficiently low natural T.

Hi jasielthirsty 

Welcome to Susan's    Glad to have you here

As to your question, you should consult a Dr. The reason being is that everyone is different and so HRT regimens are set upon the needs of each individual

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Quote from: Jessica Merriman on November 01, 2013, 01:31:38 AM
One of Spiro's adverse side effects is Gynocomastia in men. VERY good for us MtFs. Causes breast growth.

The chief endo here doesn't use Spiro because he says it reduces breast growth.  He prescribes Decapeptyl instead.  It seems the jury is still out on this question.  Androcur, another anti-androgen, is commonly reckoned to be dangerous.

If you are going to take hormones a doctor will take bloods to check your levels first, and at intervals afterwards.  Self medicating is definitely not recommended, but if you do - get the blood tests done.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Finasteride.  It combats male pattern baldness, and has some feminising effects which the manufacturer plays down as "possible side effects" but are quite good for us.

Joules, thank you a lot. I see exactly what your saying. and yeah I also heard that being thin is difficult for developing breast seeing as how I have low body fat tissue.

Thank you everyone else, I'm pretty sure i just really have to consult an endocrinologist before anything.

Quote from: Joules on November 01, 2013, 03:00:32 AM

2) Hormone receptor sites can only be occupied by 1 or the other at a time.  If a site is already taken by T, E can't get in to do the girl thing for you.

I hate to get technical, but that is not accurate.  Testosterone and estrogen have different hormone receptor sites (androgenic and estrogenic sites).  What Spiro does is inhibit T's effects by binding to the androgenic site and not allowing the effects of T to be expressed, since the T can no longer bind to that site (as well as eventually diminishing the production of T).  It's similar to why individuals with Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome have completely female sexual characteristics, they have no androgenic sites for the T to bind to, and thus zero effects from T (even though T is in their system), only the effects from Estrogen is expressed. 

The issue remains that the T often overpowers the effects from E.  So the more T in your system, the harder time it will be for the Estrogen to express itself.